Making ends meet on Long Island – the ALICE Report
SNAP and Food Stamps provide nutrition benefits to supplement the budgets of disadvantaged families. Credit: Getty Images/jetcityimage
Who is ALICE?
Despite most people on Long Island being above the federal poverty line, many residents still struggle to afford basic necessities. This is where the ALICE report — which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — comes in.
Using various sources of public data, United for ALICE developed four measures and compiled them into localized ALICE reports with the aim of empowering local organizations to more effectively address the needs of their struggling residents.
Currently, United for ALICE is partnering with 19 states, including New York, and county specific reports are also available here.
These are the four ALICE measures
- Household Survival Budget
- ALICE Threshold
- ALICE Income Assessment
- ALICE Housing Stock Assessment
United for ALICE provides a detailed explanation and methodology for their work, and you can read all about it here.
ALICE’s Household Survival Budget is a minimal estimate of household essentials and is calculated separately for each county. They are broken down into a few different categories.
- Housing
- Childcare
- Food
- Transportation
- Health Care
- Technology
- Miscellaneous
- Taxes
Comparatively, the federal poverty level does not take into account cost of living differences and is set at a mere $990 total per month for a single adult in 2016. By identifying this additional group of individuals, ALICE paints a clearer picture of those struggling to make ends meet in a region.
